‘Kondal’ Movie Ending Explained And Recap: Did Jude Kill Manuel?

Countless commercial revenge dramas follow the usual plot of the hero pursuing the villain for killing someone close to them. On finding the person, they go out of their way to explain why they will be destroyed. This is a cliché approach to storytelling, and Kondal, directed by Ajith Mampally, follows just that. This Malayalam language film is set in a fishing trawler surrounded by fishermen who carry secrets amongst them. An outsider joins the trawler to find out what it could be.

Spoilers Ahead


Why did Manuel have to leave his town?

Manuel was a local living in the town of Anchuthengu Coast. His family complained that he spent most of his time fighting for other people’s causes but never earned any money for himself or his family. Manuel’s wife Reena and daughter Diya were dependent on him for survival. Ancy, his sister-in-law, also lived with them, and all of them were barely getting by. Manuel learns of a conflict between the local fishermen and the company that supplied them the fish. The conflict escalated to the point where Manuel and his supporters got into a brutal fight against the fishing company and the henchmen hired by them. This forced Manuel to leave town, as he was sure the people who ran the fishery company would send police to have him arrested. Reena had begged Manuel to be careful, and she wanted him to be back before Diya’s birthday. 


How did Manuel reach Jude’s boat?

Manuel ran away to another coast of Kerala as he was on the run. On reaching the Vypin coast, he tried to contact Peter, but it seemed the man was avoiding him. Manuel joined the fishing trawler he was referred to. The trawler was owned by Jude’s uncle. Jude was given the charge for the workings of the trawler when it set sail. The owner advised all of them to come back with enough goods as the last season was not profitable to him. If the sale was good this time, it would be advantageous to all fishermen working on the trawler, as they could part with enough cash to support the families.  


Who informed Jude about Manuel?

Jude was a crude man who had his group of loyalists on the trawler that had set sail for the fishing expedition. Srank was the driver of the ship, who was the oldest of them all. Aloshy, a kindhearted man, brought in a young boy named Rafi, who joined the work on the trawler to make money for his father’s surgery. Pandari and Michael, one of Jude’s loyalists, were suspicious of Manuel, who was new on the trawler. Jude was also informed by Peter that Manuel could be related to Daniel, and they needed to be careful in case he had any intention of harming them.


Was there friction on the trawler?

Jude, right from the start, began to behave like the group leader. There were few of them on the trawler who had no issues with it, but Manuel was the only opposing force who could question Jude’s authority, which led to some friction. One of the fishermen began to torment Rafi, which bothered Manuel, and he stood up for the young boy by beating up the bully. This was when Jude and his group realized Manuel could not be messed with, and they began to wonder if Peter was right about his sudden entry into their trawler. 


How did Aloshy die?

One of the processes for storing the fish that were caught was to place them in the room below the deck with tons of ice. Aloshy and Michael decided to take up the work, and the former slipped and hit his head. Everyone assumed the injury was minor, but Aloshy fainted because of a concussion. As Manuel, Rafi, and Alex wanted the trawler to head towards the shore to shift Aloshy to a hospital, Jude and Srank were not keen on missing out on catching more fish as they assumed Aloshy wouldn’t last a day in that condition. Aloshy, however, died of what seemed to be a brain hemorrhage because of lack of medical treatment, which put all the fishermen in distress.


Were Jude and Srank being insensitive?

Jude and Srank were insensitive towards Aloshy’s death, even though he had been working with them for years. Jude somehow convinced them to work on the boat for two more days and store Aloshy’s body on the ice instead of heading toward the shore. They did not want to throw the body in the water as they wished to return the mortal remains to Aloshy’s family. Manuel was against it, as they needed to be more sensitive towards the matter. However, the rest of the fishermen on board convinced him that Aloshy’s family would be getting a part of the profit if the fishing trip was successfully completed. Jude and Srank were the people who were operating from behind, and they were the ones who convinced the others to pacify Manuel. Srank was pretending to be the middleman and coming across as the logical one, but in reality, he was on Jude’s side as he wanted to make money as well and put Manuel on the back foot. 


Who was Daniel?

Pandari, one of the helpers and a fisherman on the trawler, warned Manuel about a rebel who had joined their ship a while back, though his tactics never worked. He implied that Jude took care of the matter, which meant he killed the said rebel. Manuel was triggered by this story and let him know that the rebel was his brother, Daniel. A flashback revealed that Daniel was Manuel’s older brother, who, just like him, got into local fights for the sake of the fishing community they belonged to. 

Daniel was against young men taking drugs and was a witness to one of his neighbors being arrested for the same. Eventually, Daniel joined Jude’s trawler to work as a fisherman, but he was again a witness to Jude and his team being involved in drug transportation. An angry Daniel threw the drug packages into the sea, which angered Peter and Jude. Jude confessed to Sabu and Michael about killing Daniel, and he was quick to learn that Manuel had joined them to exact his revenge. 


Did Jude come up with a plan to kill Manuel?

Jude did come up with a plan with Srank, Michael, Sabu, and Pandari to eliminate Manuel and make it look like an accident. Initially, they tried to kill him by injuring him with a fishhook, but Manuel survived the attack. Jude, along with his group, tied up a sleeping Manuel and threw him into the sea, which Rafi was a witness to. Rafi and several supporters of Manuel jumped into the water to save Manuel, and he was sure Jude planned to get rid of him. 


What promise did Sabu make?

The next day, all the fishermen on board caught a large shark that was trying to break away from the hook. All of them tried their level best to capture the fish, but to no avail. Sabu came up with a plan to get rid of Manuel in the name of capturing the shark. If Manuel died, they would pass it off as an accident. They wanted to get rid of Manuel before he killed all of them. Srank stated they should kill the fish from close range, and as per the plan, he assigned Sabu and Manuel to get into a small boat to kill the fish with a spear. Manuel had a hunch his death was being plotted by Jude, Srank, Michael, and Sabu, but he agreed nevertheless to find out what their plan was. 


Did the shark attack change their plan?

As Sabu and Manuel were ready to kill the shark, the size of the fish caused the boat to topple, and both were in the water in no time. The plan to use the shark to kill Manuel was far-fetched, and it did not seem plausible at all. Their plan ended up backfiring for Manuel came out as a hero, as he was able to distract the fish and injure it with the help of a second spear thrown from the trawler towards the boat. This particular scenario was also outlandish, and the makers of the film relied heavily on viewers’ suspension of disbelief. There was no logic behind Manuel getting his hand on the second spear thrown from a trawler that was far away and timing the attack on the shark. This is where the movie lost the plot, as the build-up until then was decent. 


What Happens To Manuel?

Sabu, however, was severely injured during the shark attack, and he was bleeding profusely as a result. This was a predictable scenario, foreseeable ever since the time Sabu came up with the plan to kill Manuel. Manuel was not done exacting revenge on the people who killed Daniel. Manuel wanted to live so that Jude paid the price for the crime he committed. He had revealed that Diya was Daniel’s daughter, and he was raising her as his own. He felt he owed it to Diya and Daniel’s wife to give them closure regarding his disappearance. This was hyper-masculinity at its peak, where men were not at all worried about facing the consequences of their actions. Jude was not worried about committing another crime, and Manuel also broke a promise he made to Daniel’s wife. Such glorification is problematic, and it adds to the stereotype that men should be fighting for what they’re entitled to. 

Manuel stated the trawler would not head towards the shore as Jude had made the rule that they must first complete their work. He raised the question of why the rules were different now that Sabu was severely injured. This showed Jude and Srank’s hypocrisy, as they only wanted to tend to their supporters, and since Aloshy was not one, he was not given dignity in death as well. Jude was a villain through and through, and he did not have any redeeming qualities in him so far. 

Kondal ended with Manuel stopping Jude from turning the trawler towards the shore, which led to a huge fight. Since this was a testosterone-filled revenge drama, the climax fight was bound to happen for Manuel to prove he would kill them. He wanted retribution as Daniel’s death changed the course of their family’s life. Manuel was severely injured by Srank, who had struck Daniel as well, thereby showcasing his loyalty towards Jude. Srank was acting as someone who cared for everyone, but by the end of the film, he put forth his real face. The last shot of the film had Manuel throwing Sabu, Daniel, and Srank from the trawler. As Srank’s body had blood around him, the injured shark attacked him and killed him. It was assumed the same shark would kill the rest as they were soaked in blood as well. Pandari was let go because he was made to watch how the trio were killed. This would keep him in check for the rest of his life.


Smriti Kannan
Smriti Kannan
Smriti Kannan is a cinema enthusiast, and a part time film blogger. An ex public relations executive, films has been a major part of her life since the day she watched The Godfather – Part 1. If you ask her, cinema is reality. Cinema is an escape route. Cinema is time traveling. Cinema is entertainment. Smriti enjoys reading about cinema, she loves to know about cinema and finding out trivia of films and television shows, and from time to time indulges in fan theories.


 

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